100 or more

We just got back from our annual student ministries retreat day at the beach-side home of one of the families in our church. In a year of budget crunching, ministry cut-backs, and reduction, my team managed to carve out one of the best days of our ministry year.

We were invited to spend the day at a private community in North Laguna Beach — a place called Irvine Cove. With spouses and kids in tow, we started our day down on the sandy shore hunting for crabs, digging giant holes with our kids, taunting each other in competitive bocce ball, and surfing together. Then, as hunger got the best of us, we headed up the windy beach trail to a beautiful house for sandwiches on the pool deck.

There was no real agenda. We didn’t spend 45 minutes talking about the upcoming ministry year. We weren’t there to spend time confronting issues. We didn’t rewrite the future of the church in America. We ate too much, got too much sun, and were together.

For my team, for myself, and for our spouses we may have accomplished far more in that day together than any planning or strategy session ever could have.